A tourist in my own town
Can a Canadian tell me anything I don’t already know about the Australian city I’ve called home for nearly 20 years? The answer is yes…if he’s…
Slipping into a swimsuit for summer
Buying a new swimsuit strikes dread into the heart of a woman. Or at least of those women who are past a certain age, and a…
The meaningful month of Mo
My waitress has a moustache. It’s black and pencil-thin, curling up at the ends; the kind of moustache that a vaudevillian villain would twirl while pondering…
The barmaid who bought the pub
Who remembers those classic commercials in which Remington shavers were spruiked by Victor Kiam, the man who famously “loved them so much I bought the company”?…
A taste of Indonesia
The contents of a beautiful wooden bowl on the table of my hotel room in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta had me intrigued. What are those…
Responsible tourism: making a difference
Today is World Responsible Tourism Day. To mark the occasion, here is a story I wrote last year after travelling in Laos. This story, of which…
More than a souvenir
Audience participation is not really my thing. So it was that when a strange musical instrument was thrust into my hand on a beach in Indonesia…
Confessions of a rookie race-goer
What is it that makes a city stand still for four minutes? If you live in Australia, chances are you know the answer. It is, of…
A Glass Half Full 